Former Accountant Pleads Guilty to Embezzling from Ponca Tribe
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 31, 2011 |
OKLAHOMA CITY—Today, THOMASINE ARKEKETA, 56, from Ponca City, Oklahoma, pled guilty to embezzling funds from the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Arkeketa was an accountant for the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma and admitted at the plea hearing today that on October 25, 2007, she wrote a check to herself in the amount of $2,500 from the tribal account for her own personal benefit. At sentencing, Arkeketa faces up to five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and mandatory restitution. A sentencing date will be set by the court in approximately 90 days.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa Black.